Articles and News

Through its online training modules that cover theory and concepts, the End User Academy (EUA) gives field technicians the preparation needed to successfully begin on-site and classroom training.

By Peter Seeberg and Jürgen Lange, Softing Industrial Automation The eighth and last part of this series provides a summary and gives an outlook on the future of OPC technology.

The decline in experienced controls engineers and technicians is occurring while engineering schools are not replacing these people fast enough.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Manufacturing automation has been doing the heavy lifting to improve productivity in the United States while the country’s educational systems continue to have disturbingly low productivity. After talking with management of many manufacturing companies, reviewing surveys and statistics, it is obvious to me that this situation is dramatically out of control.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Spring is a time of new beginnings and new life. So why can’t we breathe new life into our automation systems? It’s a good time for automation engineers to consider new innovative automation applications to improve production.

By Reid Paquin, Aberdeen Group In December 2012, Aberdeen conducted research into the state of the engineering and technical workforce and found out that a majority of the 562 companies polled (over 60%) feel that they are understaffed in their engineering positions. Aberdeen looked into the challenges behind hiring and retaining engineering talent and uncovered what the industry leaders do to combat this problem.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Siemens hosted a thought leadership event on February 22, 2013 in Houston, TX. More than 300 oil and gas industry executives, technology leaders, and industry experts attended featured presentations, a trade fair and a networking event at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

ARC says the total control valve, actuator and positioner market in India will grow by 7.5 percent by 2016.

ARC says the worldwide flow meter market has rebounded strongly, growing at double digit rates through 2011 and 2012 as suppliers fulfilled pent up demand in the power, mining, and oil & gas industries.

The program establishes a perpetual $250,000 endowment fund providing scholarships to students seeking a career in the industrial automation profession.

IP training for security integrators will be available in seven cities nationwide, including San Jose, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Teterboro, Forest Park, Houston and Philadelphia.

The Stadtwerke Groß-Gerau Versorgungs-GmbH (GGV) municipal utility company installed the ORC and increased the power to heat ratio of its cogeneration units (CHP).

Servomex will incorporate elements of Precisive's gas sensing technology into its gas analysis solutions for the Hydrocarbon Processing market.

When searching for a job, seek out plants that have at least one seasoned engineer under whom you can work.

EM9 series frequency inverter is a brand-new vector high-performance frequency inverter. By decoupling control of motor magnetic flux current and torque current to achieve rapid-response and accurate torque control, can run a wide range of high-precision speed and torque control operation.which is suitable to industrial automation the in every field.

EM8 series v/f control frequency inverter is a new high performance of products. This inverter can realize high torque, high precision, wide variable speed and low noise drive. And have wide application, EM8 series frequency inverter can meet most customer’s requirements.

OSI will supply a Distribution Management System (DMS) based on the Monarch SCADA platform to Bluebonnet in Central Texas.

Hatia previously served as Director General for Voith, GL&V, Metso and ITT/Xylem.

12-page, full-color brochure describes actuators and positioners for operating final elements such as control valves, butterfly valves, dampers, and louvers.

ST130 is approved for use in explosive atmospheres, with ATEX ratings of Ex II 3 G Ex nA IIC T4 Gc -40°C ≤ Ta ≤ +80°C (explosion-protected for Category 3G, Group II, Zone 2 gas atmospheres; non-incendive).

ISA training can provide the high-performing workforce that manufacturers and global economies need to grow

MEAN provides power supply, transmission and related services to more than 60 communities, one public power district and one joint-action agency in four states: Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming.

At Sanico's site in Turnhout, Belgium, PAS-X will replace the existing third party manufacturing execution system (MES) and the warehouse management system.

IMS Research says the growth rate for new motor control Ethernet nodes--including PROFINET, Ethernet/IP, POWERLINK and EtherCAT--is projected to be the highest across the whole industrial space at nearly 30%.

Training program makes available several of ISA’s technical training courses to a majority of cities in the US where expert-led ISA instruction has not previously been offered.

More than 900 explosionproof Rotork IQ intelligent electric valve actuators will be installed in a four stage project to motorise manually operated valves on the refinery’s tank farms.

The interactive online game lets players from around the world race against the clock to find and fix the most problems.

ABB robot experts, part of the company’s Brainy Bunch, will discuss emerging power and automation issues on line, March 25 – 28.

Initiative by ISA Kolkatta Section in India Spurs Membership and Professional Growth

January U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $370.62 million, down 26.5% from December and down 12.2% reported in January 2012.

Based in Boulder, CO, ASD supplies high-performance analytical instrumentation solutions, including spectrometers.

Intelitek is the key sponsor of the Automated Manufacturing Technology and Robotics and Automation contests, both at the state and national levels.

Course dates have already been released for Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Netherlands and UK. Courses in other countries will follow.

By Lantech To solve interoperability issues, ITU (International Telecommunication Unit) drafted a protocol, G.8032 Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS), to be compatible with the Ethernet standard and make the recovery scheme less than 50ms.

ISA Executive Director & CEO Pat Gouhin Confers with Global Association Executives

By Mark Howard, Zettlex Angle sensors are generally rated and, just as importantly, priced according to their measurement performance. But performance is stated in a variety of ways and some manufacturers confuse matters by using crafty ‘spec-manship.’

Patti Engineering will participate in the Manufacturing in America Symposium featuring the Technology Tip-Off at Ford Field in Detroit, MI on March 20 - 21, 2013.

A Metso DNA automation system controls the bio-gasification plant, which was constructed as part of the existing coal-fired power plant. The produced gas will be combusted along with coal in the existing coal boiler.

IndraMotion MTX performance CNC, using the CML 65 controller, was certified as a product that conforms to the Ethernet standard sercos.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Part 3 - A survey conducted by pharmaceutical companies identified that more than half of the companies felt automation was meeting operational goals. The panel then outlined the areas for improvement in automation over the next 5-10 years.

The 20-page news magazine includes a feature article on blended infrastructure, several application articles and sercos product news from a number of manufacturers.

By Reid Paquin, Aberdeen Group In December 2012, Aberdeen delved into the psyche behind the implementation of a safety program or safety technology at 169 manufacturing organizations. Here's a summary of what they learned.

This acquisition encompasses several business units: Giddings & Lewis, Cincinnati and Forest-Liné, specializing in composite processing and large metal cutting machines, as well as a unit dedicated to aftermarket services.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Siemens COMOS 10 is an enterprise platform for the process industry that integrates functions including automation design, plant engineering, operations, and enterprise interfaces.

Add flow measurements to every important stream and compute online metrics for the process efficiency and capacity of each key unit operation.

To commemorate this milestone, the Foundation (HCF) is hosting special End User Events in Europe, North America and Asia throughout 2013.

ABB will help to measure and control the quality of the LNG at all points in the process, for Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

Patti Engineering is a CSIA Certified control system integrator offering engineering and software development services in the fields of industrial automation and shop floor IT solutions

eBook shows quality professionals how to turn manufacturing data into action, proving the value of quality improvement projects.

Have you submitted a nomination for this year’s Celebrating Excellence awards?